September 28, 2011

(September 28, 2011) The "Internet of
everything" has arrived, and according to a panel of prominent experts who
assembled at the University of California, San Diego earlier this month for the
2011 Marconi Society Symposium, surfboards, dog collars and even tube socks
will one day cross the digital divide and make for an increasingly
Internet-enabled world.

This year's symposium, which was
co-sponsored by the Center for Magnetic Recording Research and the UC San Diego
division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information
Technology (Calit2), explored the role that hardware (infrastructure) and
software (applications) will play as the Internet evolves over the next several
decades. The Marconi Society hosted the symposium in advance of its awards
ceremony to recognize two scientists who–like radio inventor Guglielmo
Marconi–pursued advances in communications and information technology for the
social, economic and cultural development of all humanity. This year's winners
of the Marconi Prize were former UCSD professors of electrical and computer
engineering Jack Wolf and Irwin Mark Jacobs (Jacobs is also the co-founder of
Qualcomm, Inc.). Speakers at this year's symposium included Jacobs and Google's
Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf, as well as Calit2 Senior Research
Scientist Thomas A. DeFanti, Calit2 Research Scientist Albert Yu-Min Lin and
several representatives from Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent and the University of
Texas at Austin.

September 22, 2011

(September 22, 2011) Imagine tapping into the mind of a coma
patient, or watching one’s own dream on YouTube. With a cutting-edge blend of
brain imaging and computer simulation, scientists at the University of
California, Berkeley, are bringing these futuristic scenarios within reach.

As yet, the technology can only
reconstruct movie clips people have already viewed. However, the breakthrough
paves the way for reproducing the movies inside our heads that no one else
sees, such as dreams and memories, according to researchers.

September 21, 2011

models ultrasound
headgear that could see the difference between two brain tasks.

Ultrasound transducers could make
a better brain-computer interface

(September 21, 2011) Ultrasound is good for more than monitoring
fetuses and identifying heart defects. According to engineers in Canada, it can
help tell what people are thinking as well. Their research suggests that
ultrasound-based devices could lead to a new kind of brain-computer interface.

Brain-computer interface
technology allows users to control devices with brain activity alone.
Researchers have focused primarily on clinical applications for people with
severe disabilities who would otherwise have difficulty interacting with the
outside world.

In addition to brain-computer interfaces
that involve electronics inserted directly into a patient’s head, researchers
are also developing a number of noninvasive methods. For instance,
electroencephalography (EEG) relies on electrodes attached to a person’s head;
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) uses powerful magnetic fields to
measure blood flow in the brain that telegraphs brain activity;
magnetoencephalography (MEG) detects the magnetic fields generated by clusters
of thousands of neurons; and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) uses light to
scan for changes in blood hemoglobin concentrations.

Yet practical use of these
methods has so far been limited due to a number of drawbacks. For instance, EEG
faces "noise" from electrical signals sent by the muscles and eyes;
fMRI and MEG are very expensive and require large equipment; and NIRS, while
still early in development as a brain-computer interface technology, has a low
data-transmission rate.

Now biomedical engineer Tom Chau
and his colleagues at the University of Toronto reveal that ultrasound can also
monitor brain activity, suggesting that it could be used for brain-computer
interfaces.

September 20, 2011

(September 20, 2011) Human devices, from light bulbs to iPods,
send information using electrons. Human bodies and all other living things, on
the other hand, send signals and perform work using ions or protons.

Materials scientists at the
University of Washington have built a novel transistor that uses protons,
creating a key piece for devices that can communicate directly with living
things. The study is published online this week in the interdisciplinary journal
Nature Communications.

Devices that connect with the
human bodys processes are being explored for biological sensing or for
prosthetics, but they typically communicate using electrons, which are
negatively charged particles, rather than protons, which are positively charged
hydrogen atoms, or ions, which are atoms with positive or negative charge.

September 2, 2011

(September 2, 2011) Computer scientists from Freie Universität
Berlin demonstrated a new type of wheelchair at IFA, an international trade
fair for home electronics. The wheelchair, on loan from the Otto Bock company,
makes it significantly easier to navigate inside buildings. It is equipped with
laser and camera sensors and a computer under the seat. Laser sensors detect
the position of walls and obstacles and prevent collisions. A so-called Kinect,
developed for Microsoft Xbox 360 game consoles, is also mounted on the
wheelchair. The sensor detects the three-dimensional structure of the
environment and can, for example, prevent the collision of the wheelchair with
people. Demonstrations and explanations are available in videos on YouTube.

A camera is installed for
steering using eye movements. To cause the wheelchair go to the right or left,
the user needs only to glance toward the right or left. Accelerating and
braking are triggered by looking upward or downward. For steering by thought,
the wheelchair user wears a cap with 16 sensors that continuously measure brain
activation. The system is trained to distinguish four brain patterns: drive
left, drive right, accelerate, and brake. After a training period, the user
should be able to steer the wheelchair just by thinking. A great deal of
concentration is required, as ideally the user should think of only the four
practiced patterns the entire time. Since obstacles automatically cause the
wheelchair to stop, the person remains accident-free in any case. Previously,
the group had demonstrated steering a car using only brain power.

(September 2, 2011) For thousands of years humans have spoken.
Noam Chomsky and many other linguists argue that speech is what sets Homo
sapiens apart in the animal kingdom. “Speech,” wrote Aristotle, “is the
representation of the mind.”

It is a complex process, the
series of lightning-quick steps by which your thoughts form themselves into
words and travel from your brain, via the tongue, lips, vocal folds, and jaw
(together known as the articulators), to your listeners’ ears—and into their
own brains.

About Me

Graduated from University of Marmara, Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Design of Industrial Products and completed her dissertation titled "A Review on the Effects of the Trends & Periods on the Structural Constructions on the Products That are Associated With Consumer Electronics" in the same department for her Master’s Degree.

Lectured at University of Anatolia, Department of Industrial Products on part-time basis. Currently, she has been lecturing on part-time basis Faculty of Arts & Science, Department of Industrial Products Design at University of Doğuş.

She was the Head of ETMK Istanbul Branch from February 2010 to June 2011.

She took part in many competitions and projects as a member of advisory board and jury. Currently, she is the acting executive officer coordinating various projects between the Industry and University at the company where she is employed.

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